


A Peppering of Advice

by solidburnreturned



Category: Trolls (2016), Trolls: The Beat Goes On (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Humor, One Shot, Pining, Relationship Advice, and in canon because i said so, pepper and suki are good friends in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 10:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18827152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solidburnreturned/pseuds/solidburnreturned
Summary: DJ Suki doesn't know how to ask Poppy out, so she goes to the one troll who knows a thing or two about love.





	A Peppering of Advice

**Author's Note:**

> btw if you don't know who pepper is, here's a link to her ref! https://solidburnreturned.tumblr.com/post/182059018790/new-ref-sheets-for-pepper-too
> 
> hope u enjoy :v

Romance was not Suki’s strong suit. 

Things like turning her turntables, mixing her mix tapes, concocting only the freshest of beats...that was what she _knew_ she was good at. Had she written love songs? Plenty. Made a mix tape or two full of them before stuffing them away in a drawer? Of course. But, really, other than that...she was at a loss. 

Most of her friends also did not seem exceptionally well-versed in love. Guy Diamond definitely _considered_ himself to be a Casanova, but that was more in regards to self love...and Smidge’s intense and extremely honest approach to expressing her feelings definitely was...Something. But not quite Suki’s style. DJ knew Branch dabbled in mushy poetry, but usually became very flustered and full of denial at the mere mention of the subject. Really, Poppy would be the one troll in the Snack Pack to have solid advice on romance. Unfortunately, going to the person you’re crushing on to ask how you should confess your feelings towards them and ask them out wasn’t super subtle.  

Which was why Suki was on her way over to someone who she knew was in fact not Poppy and quite invested in romance. 

A smooth, funky jazz melody drifted to Suki’s headphone-hidden ears from Pepper’s bike shop. The voice was easily recognized as the small red troll’s, much to the relief of Suki, who had not thought to get in contact earlier to even confirm that Pepper was home. 

The singing stopped mid-lyric when Suki rapped her knuckles against the mushroom’s door. A muffled “Just a sec!” came from within and Suki stood back, weight shifted to one hip as she crossed her arms. This anxious feeling was so not tight. Hopefully some solid advice and gushy wisdom would bring her back to her natural chill state of mind. 

Pepper swung the door open with a wide smile, wiping her blackened hands on her already grease-stained tank top and jeans. 

Her eyes lit up at the sight of her friend. “Hey, Suki! ‘Sup?”

Suki smiled back, uncrossing her arms and letting them loosely swing a bit at her sides. “Hey, Pepper! Um, you busy?”

A shrug and a quick head shake. “Just tinkering. Why, you wanna hang?”

“Well, yeah, sorta. I kinda wanted to...ask you about some stuff.”

“Shoot.”

Suki glanced to the side as Pepper just stood there, a relaxed expression on her face. 

“Um...in private, maybe-?”

“Oh!” Pepper snorted out an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah, of course!”

Suki followed her impromptu hostess up into her low-hanging pod, trying to formulate exactly what she was going to ask. Just ‘Hey, how do you ask girls out?’ seemed a little too blunt. Pepper wasn’t a blunt troll; her rambles and tangents about this or that were quite the opposite.

“Wait here a sec, I’m gonna get out of these nasty clothes,” Pepper said as they reached the kitchen, trotting off to her bedroom upstairs. “Feel free to grab whatever from the fridge!”

Ah. Sandwich time. 

Suki quickly raided the fridge and pantry for sandwich supplies, slightly disappointed in Pepper’s limited selection. Seemed she wasn’t really one for sandwiches. Definitely had plenty of cheese, though. Suki blamed the small selection on Pepper just being a smaller troll; everything in this pod was less than average. Not in craftsmanship, mind you, just size. The kitchen table barely reached the bottom of Suki’s stomach, the chairs pushed up against said table were low to the ground, and the cabinets didn’t even go pass the top of her hair. Sure, Suki was a taller troll, but even a troll like Poppy, who was short for a rainbow troll, might find these surroundings a bit comically small. The pinkish-red troll’s ears fluttered a bit at the thought of the small queen. How she’d always pick the pink troll up off her feet when they hugged...

Suki blinked and shook her head. Sandwich time. Focus.

A couple jars of fresh strawberry jam and peanut butter were readily available on the fridge door and behind a moldy loaf of bread was a fresh one. Suki quickly tossed the soiled bread away, knowing full well that Pepper probably wouldn’t get to it for a while, and went to work making a PB&J for herself and a grilled cheese for her friend. Maybe Poppy would like a sandwich? Would she say yes to a picnic? Probably...but would she have time for one? What even was her favorite sandwich. Suki realized with some horror that she really had no clue. None.

“Okay!” Pepper came sliding down the banister back into the kitchen, dressed in her usual wear of leather and a torn tank. “What’s your q-”

“What’s Poppy’s favorite sandwich??” Suki blurted out.

Pepper froze mid-step, mouth clamping shut. Her eyes seemed to be the only unfrozen part of her as they flicked around the room in thought.

“Um...Queen Poppy?”

A look of “ _duh”_ and a vigorous nod.

Pepper’s shoulders rose and fell as she slowly continued walking over to the table, drawn in by the smell of toasting bread. “I dunno. Uhh...BLT?”

“Hm...maybe...”

“Is that all you wanted to know? Seems like something you could just ask her.” Pepper snatched up a slice of cheese from the small stack Suki was cooking with. “I’m no Queen Poppy expert.”

“No no, I know, that’s not what I wanted to ask...” Suki tapped the table with her spatula, face turning pink. “You like dating stuff, right?”

Pepper smirked with her mouth full. “I’d prefer to date a girl, but, yeah, stuff can be cute.”

Suki did her best to not scowl openly. Her friend snickered at her annoyance anyway. 

“Okay, okay.” Pepper leaned back in her seat. “What do you mean by ‘dating stuff’ exactly?”

The grilled cheese was flipped, the sizzling mingling with Suki’s sigh. “Like...say I wanted to ask someone out...but I have no clue if they’d be interested and I’m like...super scared to tell them how I feel. Hypothetically.”

Humming in thought, Pepper rubbed her chin. “Could this hypothetical crush be a hypothetical Queen Poppy?”

“...Maybe.”

“Hypothetically?”

“Pepper.”

“Aw, c’mon, you’re a suave troll! You don’t gotta be so nervous!” Pepper began DJing some imaginary turntables. “Just do your thing, bump up a party she’s at, drop a love song and-” Pepper stopped short as she watched Suki become more and more panicked. “...Or...um...maybe something more personal?”

Suki stuffed an oversized bite of PB&J into her mouth in an effort to cope. She raised an eyebrow inquisitively to get Pepper to elaborate. 

A small guitar appeared out of Pepper’s hair in a flurry. “Maybe a... _ser-e-naaaade...!”_ She strummed a smooth Latin riff, rolling the R in “serenade” as she sang. 

“With her right in front of me?!” Suki nearly choked. 

Pepper blinked at her, slapping her hand down on the guitar to silence it. “Well, yeah, that’s kinda how it goes.” 

Firmly plating her friend’s grilled cheese, Suki shook her head hard enough that her headphones nearly flew off. “N-No, no, I...”

“Alright, no worries, how ab- ow-!” Pepper jerked her hand back from her sandwich as her fingers were promptly burnt. Her guitar was stuffed back into her hair with a huff. “-how about a love letter?”

Trudging around the table to plunk herself next to Pepper, knees almost hitting her elbows as she sat, Suki heaved out a sigh. “How do you write one of those?” Another forlorn bite of food.

“You just open your heart up and let that love flow onto the paper...” A dreamy look came over Pepper’s face as she rested her elbows on the table, face cradled in her hands. “Tell her how you get butterflies whenever she walks by...how when that cute gap in her front teeth shows when she smiles makes you never wanna see another smile again, since they’ll just never compare...”

“Uh-huh...”

“And how her confidence is just absolutely stunning, leaves you mesmerized and feeling like she’s the only troll in the room...Her creativity and care is unmatched by any other being in this forest.”

“Okay-”

“How the sunset seems to meld with her orange-cream hair...her ruby eyes are pure fire and passion...”

“...Wh-”

“You see roses in them, and those roses have thorns that meld with her sharp wit...her pointed ears-”

_“Pepper.”_

The red troll stopped immediately with a small jump. 

“...Are we still talking about Poppy, or...?” 

A sheepish grin split the stout troll’s face. “Y-Yeah, of course! Uh...just giving, like...examples and stuff. Y’know?”

DJ stared at her a few seconds, watching Pepper turn redder and redder. “Yeah...Well, anyway, I think that might be kinda sudden...How do you even come up with romantic stuff like that anyway?”

"Oh, y'know..." Pepper chuckled, before quickly snatching a stack of romance novels off the table (that Suki had somehow not noticed yet) and clumsily stashing them away in her hair.

"You must have a lot of experience."

Pepper's pointed ears drooped and she drummed her fingers on the table with a disgruntled sigh. "You'd think, huh?"

The forlorn troll didn't notice Pepper's change in expression one bit. "What's something simple she'd like? Something chill and relaxed? But still fun; she loves to have fun." 

A finger twirled through Pepper’s bangs as she tried to think of more options for her friend. “Hm...maybe...take her to dinner?” A tall bottle was plucked out of her hair this time. “Does she like red wine? That’s pretty mood-inducing right there.”

The pink troll looked taken aback. “Why do you just have that in your hair?”

Pepper shrugged. “You never know when you might be asked on a fancy dinner date.”

Suki dawned a look of disbelief. “Have you ever had to use that?”

Eyes scooting to the side and lips pressing together, Pepper quickly tucked the bottle back into her locks. “...Anyway. I think a dinner date might be your best bet. Not too forward, food makes everyone happy, you can gauge the vibe a little better...and you should offer to walk her home after, definitely.”

Straightening up a bit from her defeated slouch, Suki squinted at Pepper. “You think so?”

“Yeah! Maybe she’d even give you a kiss goodnight...” She teased in a sing-song voice.

This seemed to bring a fresh wave of anxiety and flustered-ness over the treasure troll. Poppy...kissing her? Gosh. Spending a whole evening together at some nice restaurant...Poppy wearing some beautiful royal dress and Suki in her one well-worn suit...Possibly drinking red wine (if that was Poppy’s thing)...and eating the fanciest sandwiches ever. 

“That sounds...totally tight.” 

“There ya go!″ A playful punch was landed on Suki’s shoulder. “Ask her out tonight! Get on it!”

Suki stood, filled with a new nervous energy. “Y-Yeah! I’m gonna do it!” 

Pepper stood on her chair, fists thrown in the air. “Claim your love life!!”

“I will!”

“Release the romantic beast!”

“I’m gonna!”

“Do it!! Right now!”

Suki stood, let out a triumphant yell, and turned to run out the door. She paused suddenly after just a couple steps, turned around, and flew over to scoop Pepper up into a tight thank-you hug. Pepper returned it, beaming, and gave Suki a final encouraging slap on the back as she trotted out the door to hunt down the pink queen.

The DJ bolted for the door, excited to get her romantic quest rolling. “See ya later, Pepper!” 

“Good luck!” The short troll called through cupped hands. “Let me know how it goes!”

“For sure! And good luck with Mack!”

“Th-!” Pepper’s words caught in her throat as the orange-haired troll’s sentence registered, her outstretched arm that was waving goodbye crumpling a bit in shock. “Wait, _what?”_

But Suki was already out the door, laughing and already mapping out the dinner invitation she was going to create in her mind. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank u to the anon that prompted this quick fic lol :^) it was a fun break from the stuff ive been working on! hope u liked it lol


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